Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs apologizes

BOSTON 
After welcoming back fans with a hefty parking rate hike (from $27 to $34) in the North Station Garage, Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs released a statement of apology to the people before Saturday night's season opener at TD Garden.

Jacobs, who turns 72 Monday, was a leader — some would say the leader — of the hard-line faction of owners during the lockout. But he was all warm and cuddly in his statement and during a pregame news conference with the media.

“I want to personally apologize to our fans and others who depend on this team for their livelihood,” Jacobs' statement read. “But these are just words. The best way to make it up to you is to play hard and win.”

The rest of the statement was devoted to Jacobs' desire to put a winning team on the ice and deliver another Stanley Cup championship.

“I said last year after our playoff exit that the Stanley Cup is on loan,” he continued. “I really meant it. We have a strong team and one that I believe will be very competitive this season. I expect us to contend for the Cup.”

Fans did receive concession vouchers, a $5 Dunkin' Donuts gift card, discounts at the pro shop in North Station, and various other perks.

At his news conference, Jacobs was asked about being vilified personally for the lockout.

“I'm the last guy that wants to shut this down,” Jacobs said after citing a litany of his business successes — the Bruins included. “A lot of people were promised that we'd try and right-size this, and I had to play a role in it. To be vilified, I don't think is right.”

Fans welcome back B's
The sellout crowd of 17,565 gave the Bruins a thunderous welcome back in pregame ceremonies, complete with bagpipes.

All 22 roster players were introduced in spotlight, and when they were all lined up on the blue line, the players turned around with raised sticks to pay tribute to the fans.

Bourque makes five father-sons

Chris Bourque, who made his Bruins debut, and his father Ray are just the fifth father-son combination in team history. The others were Harvey and Bill Bennett, Albert G. and Albert T. DeMarco, Ron and John Grahame, and Ken R. and Ken D. Hodge. Even in season openers The Bruins are 36-36-16-0 all-time in season openers, 29-16-11-0 at home. They are just 2-7-1 in their last nine openers.

This was the 11th time Boston has opened against the Rangers. The last time was in 1996 when the teams played to a 4-4 tie. The B's are now 6-4-1 in openers against New York.

Bear Facts
Coming in, the Rangers had won nine of their last 12 meetings with the Bruins, including five of the last six played in Boston. ... Henrik Lundqvist has started in goal for the Rangers' last 25 games against Boston. ... Going into Saturday's game, Lundqvist had a career record of 19-6-2 against the Bruins with six shutouts and a 1.53 goals against average. ... The Bruins went 1-2-1 against the Blueshirts last season, losing the first three meetings before Tim Thomas outdueled Lundqvist, 2-1, on April 1. Tuukka Rask lost a 3-2 decision in overtime in the opener. ... Defenseman Johnny Boychuk turned 29 on Saturday. ... Winnipeg is the opponent at 1 p.m. Monday at the Garden, a Martin Luther King Day matinee.